Friday, 25 November 2011

BBC - More Evidence of Non-Disclosure


I have found more evidence of the BBC not disclosing the financial links of the 'mental health experts' it quotes. The following people extolled the virtues of antidepressants on BBC News Online in 2009. The BBC did not declare their conflicts of interest. So let me make them available here: 

BBC article: ‘antidepressants work instantly’ (Oct 2009)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8304782.stm
In this article, Dr Catherine Harmer was extensively quoted favouring antidepressants, what we weren't told is that she has acted as a consultant for Lundbeck, Merck, Sharpe, Dohme, and P1Vital
(Proof: http://www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au/journal_archive/acn0839.pdf

The article also extensively quotes, Dr. Michael Thase. What we weren't told is that he has acted as a consultant to AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cephalon, Cyberonics, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, MedAvante, Neuronetics, Novartis, Organon, Sepracor, Shire US, Supernus, and Wyeth; is on the speaker’s bureaus of AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cyberonics, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Organon, sanofi-aventis, and Wyeth; has equity in MedAvant; and receives book royalties from American Psychiatric Publishing, Guilford Publications, and Herald House. 


BBC Article: ‘Antidepressants Not Overused' (Sep 2009) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8256501.stm
In this article, Professor Ian C Reid was extensively quoted extolling the virtues of these pills. What we weren't told is that he has been paid consultancy and speaker fees by Sanofi Aventis, Wyeth UK, Eli Lilly, and AstraZenec 
(Proof:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2734353/pdf/bjgp59-644.pdf)


BBC article: 'Drugs can help mild depression' (May 2009)
In this article, Professor Tony Kendrick was extensively quoted supporting this position, what we weren't told was that he has received fees for presenting at educational meetings and/ or research funding from Lilly, Lundbeck, Servier and Wyeth pharmaceuticals, and has also received HTA funding for research into psychological treatments. (Proof:  http://www.hta.ac.uk/fullmono/mon1322.pdf)

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